You Were Always My World
by Lusaun
Summary: AU. Kyoya and Haruhi had gone to the same high school together, yet afterwards, they had not kept contact. Kyoya finds himself having been thinking of the girl the whole time, not realizing until too late he had actually been falling for her. Years later, they meet again, first time in a while, only to find she is engaged. But... She does not seem happy. Why?


**Author's note: Basically further apology. I'm just going to now post up all the other stuff I finished for you guys. So yeah. ~ Lusaun / / Leon / Mr. L / Haruhi **

**WARNING: THERE IS AN OC CHARACTER DEATH. JUST SO YOU KNOW.**

**You Were Always My World**

Kyoya Ootori now sat inside a cafe, not too far from where he worked at the hospital, glancing down at his phone. He presses a button to illuminate the screen, curious of the time. It was 11:57 A.M. Of course he was early, that's just how he was. He definitely wasn't going to be late. Especially not late in seeing a certain person who had asked him to come. When his phone had rang during his break, he had recognized the voice on the other line all too quickly. It was one he would not ever forget, nor would he the owner of that sad voice... And that person was Haruhi Fujioka.

Such an interesting girl that one was... He remembered the day she had walked into his high school all too easily. He remembered thinking at first nothing of the girl, just another student. But then, he had heard talk of what she planned on doing as a career. She had wished to be a lawyer. A peculiar dream from someone who seemed like a dreamer, such as herself. But, that later proved false. It started when he had handed into his first period class that day, one of his AP courses. Upon his arrival, he noticed right away that new student. But she was a year younger than him... It was later told that based on her high scores previously upon taking her entrance exam, they allowed her to attend higher classes if she so wished. And she had, which peaked his interest in her already. So, she wasn't all talk and no bite, so to speak? And her intelligence proved vast. For she seemed to be in many of his higher classes.

That wasn't the only thing that had caught his attention... It was her aura in general that seemed to catch him and many people, drawing them in. The short haired brunette held a sense of intelligence and beauty in her presence. Not only that, but deeper within showed a ray of kindness, helpfulness, warmth and care. For bigger projects, he could pick out a sense of seriousness, and her business like attitude of no-nonsense. Yes, she proved a kind of person many people could count on, and be agreeable. The young girl was also blunt when need be, sarcastic when provoked, and knew how to put someone in their place when they were out of line. A well rounded person she was, well balanced, and she certainly held her own, like the independent girl she was. It was no wonder why anyone would be drawn to her, almost instantaneously. Needless to say, she was fairly popular with many people on her side. A universe's worth of love from many friends.

The teachers had loved to put the two of them together to work on large projects. They held similar personalities, work ethic wise mainly, that they could easily do something together and have it get done correctly, thoroughly, and exceed the expectations by a good mile. They were at the top of their classes, so why not pair them together? They had developed a good friendship from it. And Kyoya may not have realized it before... But he had been falling for her. She had bewitched him, honestly, with her natural like charm. But she had that effect on mainly everyone. So, he pushed those feelings aside, having believed there was no possible way she'd feel the same way.

The brunet male shook his head, taking a deep breath. Admittedly, thoughts of the girl had plagued his mind ever since... Whether they were only brief, passing thoughts, or moments where he would sit down and just think about her. There were countless amounts of times where he did either one. But, he never acted on such emotions. And he doubted that even if he did now, she probably wouldn't return them anyhow. Honestly, he was just glad that she even wished to catch up after, what six... seven years? Maybe longer? She certainly didn't have to, but it had been her idea.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a tingling little bell, signalling someone's arrival. He glances towards the door to see who it was, curiously. There stood a woman with just past shoulder length straight brown hair, wearing a white shirt and black suit jacket on top, and long black pants to match. Her black heels clicked a bit against the titled floor with practiced ease and grace. Then, he looked towards her face, seeing a familiar set of large brown eyes that he couldn't have forgotten if he tried. This woman was definitely Haruhi Fujioka.

Kyoya offers her a smile, as he begins to stand up, moving to meet her halfway. Then, the two extended a hand towards the other, giving a brief handshake. "Ah, Miss Fujioka. How wonderful to meet you again after so long," he greets her in a formal like tone. She returns the smile, before nodding in agreement.

"I agree, Mister Ootori, though, is it required we fall from using first names to our surnames, as if we were two strangers instead of old friends?" she then asks him. "Is it all the time apart that is causing you to address me as such, or are you just using a sense of formality?" He gives her a bit more of a mischievous and lighthearted smile now, as he tilts his head toward her. He then raises a brow at her.

"Which answer would you prefer?" he asks in a cheeky like way. That earned him a small laugh, before an eye roll form the female.

"Don't get all smart with me, Kyoya" she tells him in an amused tone, as she shook her head, smiling. He then gives a shrug.

"Who said I was being smart? I was only asking a question, Haruhi," he replies evenly, which got him a light hit to his shoulder. It was an action that had occurred rather frequently between the two of them through high school. It was nice to see that hadn't changed at all.

"Haha, real funny," she says fairly sarcastically. Afterwards, he stepped aside, allowing her to sit in the seat across from him. He then took his own seat.

"Well, I'm glad to see you here and be punctual," he then tells her, giving her a small look.

"Well, sorry we can't all be as punctual as you, Kyoya. But if we tried, it'd end up turning into we'd have to be here an hour early, and you would still arrive an hour and five minutes and seventeen seconds before hand, since you are always a step ahead," she answers him without missing a beat. Ah, yes, their harmless banter was still intact from before. That was always a good thing. If they couldn't talk to one another like this, there was no way they would have survived working together so much before. He chuckles a bit at her response, before he gives a nod.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," he agrees, watching as she then brushed back her bangs. However, he then noticed something as she used her left hand. On her ring finger... There stood an engagement ring. Immediately, h felt an unfamiliar yet at the same time, somewhat familiar pang in his heart. Jealousy...? That's certainly what it felt like. She never mentioned this... "So, who is the lucky man who is marrying you?" He certainly hoped the emotion wwasn't obvious at the edge of his voice. He didn't believe so... The longer haired female seemed a bit confused at first, by the way she blinked, before looking at her left hand. She then smiles a little before nodding.

"Oh, yeah, it happened pretty recently, actually," she started off, looking back at him. "Remember Shinichi? He's my fiance now." The glasses wearing male couldn't help but feel surprised when she told him this. Shinichi Nakamura? He remembered him, he was in their classes as well. He constantly was badgering her to go out with him, no matter how many times he refused. He was always so determined, and that had always annoyed him. Not only because of how many times she had rejected him, but because, as he realized now, he had had feelings for her then too. But what had made her change her mind, he wondered... So he decided to ask about it.

"How did he convince you to finally go out with him, if you don't mind me asking?" he asks her. He watched her expression as it suddenly seemed to take a rather odd turn... It started off happy, but then, when he looked into her eyes, he saw a mixture of hidden emotions... Sadness, a tint of regret, love... And the same instant they were seen, they disappeared. For a moment, he thought he had imagined it all, but there was certainly no way he could have done that... Something was wrong with this picture.

"Well, we actually went to the same college, actually. He finally asked me one last time last year... And then, six months later, here we are. Happy, and soon to be married," she explains to him. He was going to ask more about it, when suddenly her phone rang. She looks down, picking it up to see who was trying to reach her. Her eyes widened some, as she clears her throat. "I-I'll be back in one moment. That's him now, actually." With those words, she got up, rather hurriedly, before heading outside. _Don't follow after her... There is no need for you to go and listen in on her conversation... _he told himself. However... He knew something was wrong, and if he had to guess, it involved her fiance. So, going against what was usually morally right, he carefully went after her, going outside as well. She didn't seem to notice, thankfully and he stood back some, while her back was turned.

"There's no reason for you to be raising your voice at me. ...Well, I wasn't mad until you started yelling at me! What the hell did I do?!" Haruhi started, first trying a calm tone, that was edged with irritation, which then transitioned into her own voice getting raised. "All I'm doing is getting coffee with Kyoya, is that so wrong?!" Kyoya couldn't help wondering why the male involved in the conversation with her would be so upset about her talking with him... Wasn't it normal for old friend to talk again? Apparently not... However, it was the last set of words that ended up helping him figure it all out.

"Oh, so, when I get upset when you're actually _with _another girl while we're dating it's not ok, but when I turn around, while we're _engaged, _and decide I ant to tell one of my old best friends about it and all, you can get upset and I have no say? I should have left you when I found out about you, Shinichi, but I _didn't _because I loved you! Could you now show me the same trust I had given you that you had broken?!" Without giving the other person a chance to answer, she hung up. Now it was starting to make sense... He was fairly possessive of her, and didn't want to lose her... So maybe he figured out pretty quickly not to make the mistake of losing her twice, but now he worried she'd do it to him? Hm... And then she turned around, jumping when she saw the brunet male behind her, her eyes wide. "K-Kyoya, what are you-?!"

"So, I can see you two are very happy together," he comments, giving her a look that clearly said, 'You shouldn't lie to me...'. The lawyer opened her mouth as if to protest, only to sigh and shake he head.

"...Alright, you caught me. It's not exactly going great... We're working on it..." she mumbles to him, glancing away. He then sighs, going over to her, patting her head a bit.

"I won't tell you what to do... But, I will tell you you need to be true to yourself about what you want to do. Make your decisions based on how _you_ feel about them, not him. Do what you feel is right... Now, I must go," he adds in. "I hope to see you again soon." With those words said, he began to walk off, not giving her a chance to respond. But he certainly hoped that what he said stuck with her. It usually did before, so he prayed that much didn't change.

A few weeks passed and already he was starting to see some changes... She never mentioned her relationship with Shinichi again, honestly. But if he mentioned it, she would dodge the question almost immediately. And then, a few days ago, he noticed a change that turned to be fairly drastic. The ring had disappeared. He tried to ask about it, but she told him that it was something that wasn't ready to be spoken about. Strange... But, today he and Haruhi both had days off, so he decided why not meet by the beach? Or, rather, an area by the beach where they could sit and talk, and just enjoy the nice day. It was nice, with a breeze that picked up the waves a bit more than normal. He was just walking up to where he said he'd meet her, at the fairly large cliff that was railed off, so no one would just slip and fall into the ocean. Now, there were a few people who would jump in from there... Stupid, and crazy given how dangerous that could be, given how the rocks were cut a bit unevenly, so you risked getting hit on your way down... But then, he noticed someone else was with the familiar figure... And it was Shinichi. He could't help his surprise, since he thought he didn't have the day off today. But, what worried him a bit was what he was doing... The railing wasn't incredibly tall, it came up to just above his hips actually, but the other male was just a bit taller than him. The one with the brunette girl suddenly started picking her up, making her cry out some, as they were now both too close to the railing. He could hear her yell out, "Shinichi, you need to stop this, this isn't safe!" _Put her down, you idiot... She is obviously not enjoying it, _he thought in annoyance to himself. He started to walk a bit more hurriedly towards him, hearing the other male now laugh as he replied with, "Aw, c'mon Haru~. You need to loosen up and have a little more fun~!" But then, someone else suddenly ran past them, accidentally bumping into Shinichi rather harshly. The male seemed to gasp a bit, as he suddenly lost his footing, while on his tip toes, and slipped forward, suddenly both having gone over the railing. And then Haruhi screamed as the two fell, causing Kyoya to go into a sprint towards them both. _That __**idiot! **__How did he think that was ok?! _he thought angrily, before he took off his glasses, knowing he'd lose them in the ocean if he didn't. He tossed them aside, before he jumped up onto the railing, taking a deep breath. And then, he dived into the ocean after them both.

The water was fairly cold, given it was only the beginning of spring, as the water was slowly starting to heat up, but not by much. With the wind, it made the waves toss a bit more, and he almost hit the rocks that made the cliff. However, he managed to swim down before they managed to take complete hold of him. He saw Haruhi first, her eyes closed and mouth partially open. He didn't see her breathing, which could mean quite a few things at this point. He used his right arm to pull her close to him. A bit deeper, he found Shinichi. He extended his left arm down to him and grabbed the back of his shirt, yanking him up to him. After that, he started swimming back up to the surface. His lungs were already burning from the lack of oxygen, so he could only imagine how the other two must felt. Finally, he let them come up first, before he resurfaced as well, gasping for air and coughing some. He could see many people on the shore looking out to them, and a few others already swimming out to help him, even with his hazy vision. The brunet male allowed two people to take the unconscious male, while someone else helped him get Haruhi. The closer they got to inland, he louder he heard the sirens, signalling the ambulances an therefore, the paramedics had arrived to take the ones who were in need of help. Everything seemed to happen at once, and he didn't even notice when his feet had hit the sandy shore of the beach, watching in concern as the young girl he cared so much about was pulled off to the ambulance. He also looked to their high school friend, his eyes widening when he saw something that was never a good sign. Blood. Blood was trickling out of the male's mouth, and people began shouting as they figured out whhat was wrong. Things were only getting worse...

And now hours seemed to be endless as they passed, seconds feeling eternal. Kyoya held his head in his hands, as he sat beside Haruhi's bed. He sighs, his grey eyes closed. How could this have happened...? He had never expected that one day this would happen, and he'd have to tell her... Tell her that her fiance had passed... Was he even her fiance still? He had never found out... Either way, it wasn't going to be easy, but he knew that if anyone should tell her, he should. He looked up, now having his back up pair of glasses, upon his arrival. This was his work place, after all, this was one of the hospitals his family owned and the one he worked in. And finally, those eternal moments seemed to be over, for now, hearing the brunette girl beside him begin to stir. He looks over to her, in time to see her brown eyes begin to flutter open, and then show her immediate confusion.

"Nnngh... K-Kyoya...? What... How..?" she tried to ask, but words seemed to fail her right then. So, he stopped her, giving a small shake of her head.

"It's alright, Haruhi... You're in the hospital. You and Shinichi fell into the ocean, remember?" he informed her, clenching his fist a bit upon having to say his name. He was really hating how he had to do this to her... Upon hearing the name, she looked over at him, blinking.

"Shinichi...? Shinichi, where is he?" she finally asks him, and he takes a deep breath, having been preparing for this moment.

"...I'm sorry too have to tell you this, Haruhi, but... He passed on before we even got to the hospital... At some point, possibly while falling he may have hit one of the edges of the cliff and cracked his ribs, which punctured his lungs... We weren't able to save him," he finally tells her. And oh, how he loathed seeing such a hurt, pain-filled expression cross her face, mixed with horror and sorrow. He never wanted to be the one to cause that, but, he couldn't let a stranger be the one to tell her. He watches her as she takes a deep breath, closing her eyes. Then she tilted her head back some.

"...Then, he died before he could really fix the bonds between the three of us..." she mumbles, more to herself. That made him blink a bit in slight confusion.

"What exactly do you mean by that...?" he asked slowly, wondering if this had anything to do with the missing ring.

"...Well, we had broken up a while ago, but today... He came with me to see you to hope to build our little trio back..." she explains finally, and he gives a sigh. That sounded just like him too... He then reaches over, gently running a hand through her brown hair.

"...Well, I apologize for everything you're being hit with now... But, I hope you know, I'll be here for you through it all... And we'll get through it together," he then promises her. She blinks a bit, before smiling to him.

"Thanks, Kyoya..."

Four and a half weeks passed since that incident at the beach. Kyoya and Haruhi walked by the cliff that had caused this. About three weeks ago was when the funeral had been held. He then took her hand suddenly, as they reached the middle of the cliff, though she would not step too close to that railing. Not after what had happened. Just close enough to where they could see the horizon together, and the sinking orange sun begin to go underneath it. She looks over at him, blinking and tilting her head some. "You told me you wanted to tell me something? What's up?" she finally asks him.

"Well... It's about something maybe I should have told you a long while ago..." he stated, looking off towards the setting sun instead now. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, taking a small breath. "Haruhi, you're a beautiful and wonderful girl... You've been through a lot, and I can understand if now is to soon... But I wanted you to know, I care about you, a lot. And while you may have your universe full, it seems, with so many people who have adored you in life... You became my world. And I never noticed that before." There was a moment of silence between them, before suddenly, her hand left his. And he was ready to have her reject him, only to suddenly feel himself get pulled into tight embrace. He blinks a bit, looking down at her, before smiling some. He returns the hug, closing his eyes.

"...I care about you too, Kyoya... And I'm glad you've been by my side through all of this, thank you..." she tells him softly, before looking up. She noticed his eyes were closed, so she then smiles, before pressing a sudden, quick yet sweet peck to his lips, making him open his eyes immediately. She laughs a bit, before grinning some at him. "...Did I forget to mention I liked you too~? Silly me."

"And now we're being a bit of a tease, are we~? How adorable. Well, if you're ready... How baout we go get something to eat then, Haruhi?" he suggests, putting an arm around her shoulders, as they turned to walk off. He held her close to him, as she gives a nod.

"Yes, that sounds great. ...Do you think Shinichi knew we would end up being together?" she then suddenly asks, as they walk. That did cause the brunet male to ponder, before he shrugs.

"He may have sensed it before we did, yes. I guess we won't know... But we won't forget."


End file.
